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A stupid rainy day. Another one, the umpteenth in Soviet Europe. It kindly keeps the dust down, but moving through the rubble is difficult: the risk is that of slipping and breaking a bone. I'm in the right alley. I can't see the door, though... Ah! There it is, at the end, behind those boards. Now it's only a question of grit--stepping into a future that sounds so surreal.
But even so, less surreal than what we've endured in this wrecked country for the last forty years...
Berlin, 1987. It is October 18th.
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**CONTENT WARNING***
This is a POLITICAL story. Some of the characters and situations described herein belong to systems that existed in the past and that history has already judged. However, especially in recent years, what has been taken for granted for decades has become "controversial" and "divisive" again, hence this warning.
Furthermore, the game contains scenes of narrated or imagined violence that may offend the sensibilities of some readers. In particular, it deals with torture (not directly narrated but understood by the context), death (sometimes mildly graphic), psychological enforcing, weapons and guerrilla situations, up to thermonuclear aftermath. If any of these themes are hostile to you for any reason, we recommend that you do not play the game.
2nd Place - PunyComp 2024
| Average Rating: Number of Reviews Written by IFDB Members: 2 |
This long puzzler is an entrant in the 2024 Puny Comp, written in PunyInform and using the comp theme of the years around 1980.
It's basically like 4 games wrapped in one, increasing its length. The idea (which is complex so I may have it wrong) is that you're part of a series of spies who've taken the name Gromov as a way to be anonymous, and you and several other organizations are trying to change the history of the world. There are either 2 or 3 histories at play: one drone-filled world you start in, the normal world we live in, and a future where the US has been largely obliterated by nuclear weapons.
Most of the game is in the latter world. You explore three regions, each with their own themes, like clocks, music, and machinery. Then there is a final endgame.
The puzzles are quite difficult, and I was often stuck and reached out for help multiple times. You have to use intuition and experimentation, and it's not always clear what you should do. So this is great if you like carefully detailing notes and chewing on things for a long time, and less fun for casual players who just want to experience the story.
There were a lot of testers and implementation and writing were mostly smooth. I found a few small typos I passed onto the author, who has taken care of them. Outside of that, it's significantly polished.
Like it warns at the beginning, this game follows traditional viewpoints on WWII and the cold war, with the British as heroes and Nazi Germany (and later Soviet Russia) as the bad guys.
Around about halfway into the game, I found myself thinking something like 'gee, the tone of this one reminds me of something else I've played, in a good way. I wonder..."
Then I took a closer look at the box.
Still, it's not remotely derivative; moreso, it's pleasantly reminiscent of some of the best, eeriest magical realism in games that have come before. It just works nicely.
In terms of structure, the three-fold parallel approach fits well and avoids any headaches; it's very merciful and allows the player to focus on puzzling. And goodness, the puzzling. These expect you to think on your feet, notice and examine everything, make some logical leaps, take breaks and backtrack, and think laterally. The parser is generally your friend throughout. Where this design approach doesn't work so well is in the intro 'action' scene and to a lesser extent in the finale; when the player is put under real or apparent time pressure I feel that things should be more closely cued.
It's a long ride but it's very satisfying to finish. I deliberately haven't said much about the story; I think it complements the puzzles and keeps the player attached, but of course many questions are left unanswered.
Outstanding Puzzle design of 2024 by MathBrush
This poll is part of the 2024 IFDB Awards. The rules for the competition can be found here, and a list of all categories can be found here. This award is for the most outstanding puzzle design in a game from 2024. Voting is open to all...
Outstanding Writing of 2024 by MathBrush
This poll is part of the 2024 IFDB Awards. The rules for the competition can be found here, and a list of all categories can be found here. This award is for the most outstanding writing in a game from 2024. Voting is open to all IFDB...
Author's Choice for Best Game of 2024 by MathBrush
This poll is part of the 2024 IFDB Awards. The rules for the competition can be found here, and a list of all categories can be found here. This award is for the best overall game of 2024. Unlike all other polls in the IFDB Awards, this...